Carole Hankin, Syosset schools superintendent, praised, criticized

Members of the Syosset school community say superintendent Carole Hankin will be hard to replace when she retires in October after leading the district for 23 years. Photo Credit: Newsday/Karen Wiles Stabile

Members of the Syosset school community say superintendent Carole Hankin will be hard to replace when she retires in October after leading the district for 23 years. (Credit: Newsday/Karen Wiles Stabile)

Members of the Syosset school community say superintendent Carole Hankin will be hard to replace when she retires in October after leading the district for 23 years.

Supporters call Hankin "a visionary," crediting her with the district's stellar academic reputation and for creating and protecting an array of clubs that appeal to students with diverse interests and strengths.

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Members of the Syosset school community say superintendent Carole Hankin will be hard to replace when she retires in October after leading the district for 23 years.

Supporters call Hankin "a visionary," crediting her with the district's stellar academic reputation and for creating and protecting an array of clubs that appeal to students with diverse interests and strengths.

"If people don't like what her salary is . . . then they should vote against the budget," he said. "But they don't."

He said he's visited the district many times and is impressed by its art and science programs. Such things, he said, are often the first to be cut when times are tight, but Hankin knows what her community wants and is able to garner their support.

Her salary, he said, "is a minuscule amount compared to the benefits she has brought."

Hankin, who declined to be interviewed since announcing her retirement Tuesday night, said through a spokesman that she plans to write a book on education and to lecture on the topic.

School officials say they wish her well.

"She really did provide something for every child," said Syosset High School principal Giovanni Durante, who has worked at the district for 20 years.Her achievements are many, he said.

Hankin won grants to bolster myriad programs, partnered with the Metropolitan Opera so performers could mentor her students and established a foreign language program at the elementary level to foster students' overall academic performance.

"She has done nothing but outstanding things for our district," Durante said. "She is a true educational leader and prides herself on helping students of all abilities."

Tracy Frankel, also elected in May, but not as part of a slate, said she hopes the new superintendent is someone "dedicated to our children and to our staff . . . who is inclusive and who works well with the board of education and who is respectful of the public."

Roberta Dochter, immediate past president of the district's PTA, called Hankin irreplaceable. "It's been under her guidance, her ideas, her research that we have come to where we are as far as being a top school district," she said. "I have immense respect for her."